The wife of director János Szász, wife of director János Szász, Bognár Gyöngyvér Jászai Mari award-winning actress, who was a respected artist of the Katona József Theater in Kecskemét, has started a new life and works as a kindergarten teacher in the United States, Magyar Narancs reports.
Their family suddenly left Hungary nearly four years ago. János Szasz he previously made headlines for his documentary about Siamese twins in Bangladesh, because then, in 2021, the police searched his house because of the production. Half a year later, the director decided to move to Washington with his wife and two sons in the hope of a better future.
“I am a kindergarten teacher, officially a pedagogical assistant. My little son’s head of kindergarten in Budapest connected here with a retired acquaintance who was also a kindergarten teacher in Washington. He helped me submit my application to the kindergartens in the area,” he said Tick Julianna the actress in her interview.
Gyöngyvér Bognár he also talked about the fact that there is no way back to Hungary after what happened to us: “What can be said: on February 5, 2021, at six in the morning, the police came to us due to an anonymous complaint. It was shocking to realize that we were innocently exposed to false accusations and lies. Our lawyer said this process could take up to two years. I got sick, lost five kilos that week. I felt that I can’t live like this, we haven’t committed anything and yet we have to defend ourselves. János stated that if this could happen to us here, then we are not in a good place. A month before the police action, János resigned from the Theater Academy due to the SZFE scandal. In the meantime, the film support was withdrawn from Utas és holdvilág, and then the two theaters where they were invited to direct, refused the work, saying that it would be better not to come. We stood there without a job, with two children, in doubt. We said that our children are our greatest value, let’s save them and go out into the world, because we have no future at home.”
It was then that he left the Katona József Theater in Kecskemét after nearly 20 years there. When asked if he was looking for another opportunity, he revealed:
“No, but luckily I got a job: Barbara Hámori was selected for one of the main roles in the series Hotel Margaret, and Adél Kováts also invited me to the Radnót Theater for two roles. I told him that I have been waiting for this phone call for thirty years, but if everything goes well, we will wind up our lives and go abroad. The next day, he called me back to say that, despite this, they definitely wanted me, and if we really did go, the theater would take care of that. It was a huge gesture on his part, and a stark contrast to the fact that I’ve had close friends withdraw their trust from me. (…) It doesn’t matter how many years or decades of acquaintance you have, if you hear that the police have gone to someone’s house, then they are definitely criminals. The system of inciting hatred and whispering, in Hungary, the land of janitors, where they tipped off the Gestapo, the Arrows, and the ÁVO, now seems to be working again. Hungarian society is very deeply poisoned.”
According to Gyöngyvér, a lot of humility and flexibility are needed in order for a person to be able to take obstacles well_ “This is not easy for anyone, neither for those who stay at home, nor for us. We fell in love with where we live, we made friends, both Hungarian and American. I used to think that the time spent together dictates the depth of a friendship, but emigration and a shared destiny alone give depth to relationships.”
Asked if he knew he was so flexible, he explained:
“I didn’t know it, but as it turned out, I am. In 2017, she was operated on for breast cancer. When, two months after the mammogram and biopsy, it became clear that there was a very serious problem, I really experienced that nothing in life is certain. One thing I was sure of was that I wanted to live. When the police case happened, I knew exactly that I didn’t want to live in that state of mind, I didn’t want to wait, I didn’t want to beg and serve anyone. If this is the case, let’s start a new life and focus on staying alive. (…) I decided that as long as I live, I will only focus on good things. That’s why I didn’t stay in Kecskemét either, because the quality of the new leadership didn’t match my principles, my emotions, my mental makeup, and I didn’t want to stay there and rage. I deeply reject arrogance and superiority. In the Hungarian political culture, I see that everyone and everything is bullied with shameless arrogance, and vulgar words are used for serious people and works. It was amazing, for example, that in connection with the accident of Júlia Szász and Ottó Lajos Horváth, Attila Vidnyánszky was able to anoint himself as a saint and did not take responsibility either as a director, director or as a person. Two of his actors almost died, but he stayed put.”
The full conversation is available here.
